Week 03: Rahm moves to World No.2

PGA Tour - CareerBuilder Challenge

Jon Rahm beat Andrew Landry with a 12-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole of a playoff Sunday in the CareerBuilder Challenge, his second win the on the PGA TOUR.

In fading light on the Stadium Course at PGA West, Rahm finished off Landry for his second PGA TOUR title and fourth worldwide victory in a year. The 23-year-old Spaniard will jump from third to second in the world ranking behind Dustin Johnson.

"It's hard to believe, to be honest, passing Jordan Spieth, three-time major champion," Rahm said. "I only have two wins and he's got 10-plus, right? I never thought I was going to be at this point in my life right now."

Rahm overcame surprising par-5 problems in regulation to shoot 5-under 67. Landry, playing a group behind Rahm in the final threesome, forced the playoff with an 11-foot birdie putt on the water-guarded 18th for a 68. They finished at 22-under 266.

"Tournaments like this build character," Rahm said. "I'm just proud of myself to hit what's probably my least favourite club, which is the 3-wood, three times in a row dead centre on my line on 18 — four times if you include the regular play. To be honest, really happy the way it happened the way it did and really proud of the way I played. I hit a lot of bad putts today, hit a lot of edges, but lucky the one I needed to make went in."

Asian / Japan Golf Tour - SMBC Singapore Open

Sergio Garcia of Spain put on a masterful display of golf as he carded a three-under-par 68 to romp to a dominant five-shot victory at the US$1 million SMBC Singapore Open on Sunday.

The 2017 Masters Tournament champion built his one-shot lead at the start of round four into a five-shot advantage after nine holes on Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong course.

Garcia’s day got off to a great start as he birdied the first hole. He went on to score two more in quick succession before the turn, on holes seven and eight. The Spaniard switched to cruise control for the remainder of the round, carding nine consecutive pars to close with a total of 14-under-par 270.

A final-round 71 earned Satoshi Kodaira of Japan a share of second place. The six-time Japan Golf Tour winner played a roller-coaster round, highlighted by the fact that he only had eight pars out of the 18 holes.

Shaun Norris of South Africa had a round of two halves. He dropped two shots in his front nine, but he rallied and made three birdies on the back nine to card a 70 as well as to grab a share of second place.

Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand gave himself an outside chance of winning the tournament after carding 68 and 66 in rounds two and three respectively. The 22-year-old could not sustain his mid-tournament form and closed with a 71. He finished tied-fourth and earned a spot at this year’s Open Championship.

The SMBC Singapore Open is part of The Open Qualifying Series, Jazz Janewattananond, Danthai Boonma, Sean Crocker and Lucas Herbert secured their places in The 147th Open after qualifying at the SMBC Singapore Open today.

European Tour – Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA

Tommy Fleetwood produced a brilliant back nine display to successfully defend his Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA title.

The 27-year-old stormed home in just 30 strokes to complete a closing 65, with his 22-under-par total giving him a two-shot victory over fellow Englishman Ross Fisher.

The returning Rory McIlroy finished in a share of third on 18 under after his challenge stalled somewhat on the back nine, alongside another of the English contingent in Matt Fitzpatrick.

When Fisher stormed to the turn in 32, Race to Dubai champion Fleetwood found himself five shots adrift.

However, Fleetwood began for home with a birdie from 12 feet on the tenth, and when Fisher drove into dessert scrub on the same hole and eventually did well to salvage a bogey it proved to be a crucial momentum swing.

Fleetwood holed a 15 footer on the 12th to make it a three-way tie for second alongside McIlroy and Fisher's overnight joint-leader Thomas Pieters, although the Belgian's challenge unravelled on the 11th as he tangled with a bunker and ran up a double-bogey.

The Fleetwood charge continued with a gain from eight feet on the 13th, and he then drew level with Fisher by rolling in a 30 footer on the 15th.

A spectacular 40 footer on the 16th put Fleetwood in front for the first time since the opening round, and a wayward tee shot on the 15th saw Fisher drop a shot to fall two behind.

Although Fisher got the shot back on the next, Fleetwood maintained the pressure with a birdie from five feet at the last, and Fisher was unable to eagle the 18th to force a play-off.

Web.com Tour – The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay

Sungjae Im became the 16th player in Web.com Tour history to win in his first start as the Tour kicked off its 29th season at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay. Im, 19, carded a final-round, bogey-free 7-under-par 65 to end the week 13-under-par. With a 72-hole total of 275, South Korea native won by four strokes over Carlos Ortiz, who birdied the 72nd hole to break out of a five-way tie for second place.

“I’m so happy,” said Im, who collected a first-place prize worth $108,000. “Everyone told me how tough was to win on the Web.com Tour. I never expected to win this quickly, but I’m so happy about this victory.”

Playing in the final group of the final round, Im quickly made his presence felt with four birdies on the front nine. He then added three more on holes 14, 15, and 16 to crush any doubt about who would win the second annual event.

“There was a lot of wind today, so I tried to hit punch shots,” said Im, who made only five bogeys all week. “At first, they were not working, but I stuck with it and finally started hitting them low which led to some birdie chances.”

Im etched his name in multiple pages of the Tour history book, including becoming the seventh South Korean-born player to win on Tour. He joins 2017 PLAYERS Champion Si Woo Kim, Kevin Na, James Hahn, Danny Lee, Seung-Yul Noh and D.H Lee, all of whom are competing on the PGA TOUR this season.

ProGolf Tour - Red Sea Egyptian Classic

German amateur Michael Hirmer secured himself the victory with a total nine under par. After three rounds Hirmer finished with 207 strokes (70, 67, 70), two strokes less than Scotsman Liam Johnston (70, 69, 70).

”t feels great, I’m more than happy about this victory”, Michael Hirmer said at the prize giving ceremony.

It was a deserved victory for the Bavarian amateur: Few players could score as constantly as Hirmer did on the demanding course close to the Red Sea. After the first 18 holes of the tournament the 20-year-old held the shared seventh rank, but a 67 on day 2 made him climb the top of the leader board. He shared the pole position with Polish professional Mateusz Gradecki, each with 7 under par. But while Gradecki fell back during the final round, Hirmer played -2 and secured himself the first trophy of the year.